Spot On: God games come of age

PORTLAND, OR--The end of days usually isn't a major concern at game development conferences. But for Jerry Moore, it is. Moore has been around the game industry almost since the beginning, and he's concerned that he won't get his latest creation out before the end.

Moore has worked on an impressive list of games, including Frogger, the King's Quest series, and Command and Conquer. His newest game is Progress 21, a game based on John Bunyan's 17th-century book, The Pilgrim's Progress. Like the work it's based on, the game is an allegory that shows players the way to salvation, but does so with a more modern setting and sensibility.

Moore presented his ideas at the Fourth Annual Christian Game Developer's Conference, which took place this past weekend in Portland, Oregon. He's hoping to get some help finishing his game, so he can get it in gamers' hands before Judgment Day.

"The time is short. We don't know how long it's going to be until the Lord returns," Moore said. "If we wait three years to get this game out and the trumpet sounds, it's been a great adventure for me, but it hasn't brought anybody to Christ."

Of the more than 85 people who attended this year's conference, the reasons for coming were diverse, but the passion was universal. The faithful were there to discuss games that promote Christian values--games they can feel good about their kids playing. The show featured card games and board games in addition to computer and video games.

Under the shadow of the Grand Theft Auto Hot Coffee scandal, the attendees represented the "other side" of the industry. These developers pay close attention to the content of the games they create, and want to send a positive message.

Despite the name, the CGDC bears little resemblance to the Game Developers Conference. Instead of a sprawling convention center, this gathering takes place in the modest multipurpose room of Portland's Cascade College. Turnout is low, Microsoft and Sony aren't giving away tchotchkes, and you won't find any booth babes here. In fact, you won't find many babes at all among the mostly male crowd.

But attendees aren't bothered by any of this; they are here for a higher purpose--to do God's work. And what they lack in numbers, they make up for in dedication, having flown in from Brazil, India, Australia, China, and all over the United States.

The group's vision is to do for games what Christian rockers did for pop music. Many represent game companies with just a handful of employees and they believe that by focusing on simpler games for younger age groups, they can make inroads into that market. Eventually, they hope Christian games will be an accepted genre that shares shelf space with secular titles.

The group is creating games like Dance Praise, a PC version of Dance Dance Revolution that features exclusively Christian popular music. Peter Fokos, the CTO of Digital Praise, got the idea to create the game from his daughter. When he objected to some of the lyrics in DDR, she suggested he create a game that featured the kinds of Christian music she likes. After hammering out a deal with EMI Christian Music Group, it became a reality. At White Knight games, developers are looking to harness the popularity of Jak and Daxter with a biblical platformer named Timothy and Titus. Anime-style characters roam a 3D world, building up "faith" instead of magic power, allowing them to unleash the finger of god or a miracle.

For the consoles, there will be two versions of The Bible Game. One game, for the Game Boy Advance, is an action adventure that challenges players to assemble the seven parts of the Armor of God while vanquishing the agents of darkness by answering Bible trivia. The PS2 and Xbox versions are a game show-themed party game that tests knowledge of scripture, but also features action sequences.

The small state of Christian gaming means titles like The Bible Game are being made on a shoestring. The PS2 version cost about $1 million to make, and the Xbox port was half that price.

A large number of those attending the conference are parents, and their interest is in making games for their own kids. And when it comes to acceptance in the marketplace, a Christian message may meet less resistance if it targets the younger set.

"I think Christian content is much more accepted when it's aimed at a children's market," said Kathy Bucklin, the senior producer at Crave Entertainment, the company that is publishing The Bible Game.

Other developers at the conference feel the same and want to create a vibrant Christian market that offers alternatives to games with violent, sometimes satanic, content. Well maybe not all of them.

Like Moore, Jesse Rapczak also has his mind on the apocalypse, but for a different reason. He wants to create a game in the mold of the Battlefield series that pits Christians and Jews against the forces of the Antichrist. Yes, it's a first-person shooter, and yes, it would be an M-rated Christian game.

The game has no title as of yet, but it's code-named Apocalypse. What sets it apart is that it's story-driven and would have dynamic mission objectives that would be randomly generated as you play. For instance, those on the Christian/Jewish side may suddenly find themselves trying to protect fleeing civilians, while the demonic players would be tasked with eliminating them.

The game, envisioned to be the first of a trilogy, is in an early stage of development and tweaks are still being made.

"We're thinking of changing things because the Christians and the Jews are so underpowered," Rapczak said.

It isn't clear whether Christians would embrace a game in which a player could play as a minion of the Antichrist, and Rapczak admits there could be some resistance. Still, he's aiming for a mass-market audience that includes both the devout and nonreligious. John De Margheriti is also shooting for crossover success.

De Margheriti is the CEO of BigWorld and Micro Forte, and he's made a successful business out of creating middleware for MMOs. The Aussie, whose team has been hard at work on Citizen Zero, claims to be the only Christian in his company.

"We're not a Christian company--we make a lot of normal games. But it's a passion of mine to make a Christian MMO," De Margheriti said.

The challenge is creating a religiously themed RPG that doesn't contain content offensive to Christians, but is still fun to play for non-Christians.

De Margheriti, who previously worked on the ultraviolent, and widely praised, Fallout Tactics, said he has solved the problem, but he won't say how. He said the Almighty showed him the solution in a dream and believes his successes so far have been just a practice run for the part he is to play in God's plan, be it making a faith-based game or paving the way for someone else to make one.

"I'm a pretty hard-ass Christian, God really motivates most of the things I do," De Margheriti said.

But right now, the Christian game-making community is a place of small budgets and big dreams. An oft-repeated phrase is that these developers don't see each other as competitors, and they're quick to offer their services to help create each other's products. Greg Schumsky, president and CEO of Covenant Studios, was there to promote his upcoming computer game based on the Bibleman franchise. He predicts an explosion in Christian gaming in the next five years. Others there share his faith that this genre will soon hit the big time.

"Basically, I was sent here--kind of like the Blues Brothers, we're on a mission from God," Schumsky said.